Google ads in the forum?

[Gryzor]

Hello guys,

I'd like your opinion on this issue.

About a year and a half ago we run a very successful funding 'campaign' which saw us raising money to cover the server's costs for a year (and then some). For the past half year or so the money have run out, though (damn, it tends to do that).

So I was thinking, what if, instead of doing another campaign and relying on a handful who would donate some money, we added some ads to the forum?

Yes, I know what you're thinking, but hear me out here.

I dislike ads as much as the next guy, but the way I see it it would be really discreet and non-intrusive. We're talking of course about Google Ads, and probably a single row of them underneath the main toolbar, to be shown only on index pages.

Of course we would need to click on them every now and then, and it wouldn't bring in lots of money, but probably a good chunk of operating costs. I also propose, like with our Paypal donations, a transparency scheme - I'd share all the Google statements with you.

Maybe it won't work (technical issues to be considered with Google, or lack of interest), and of course users would have to exclude the Wiki forum from their Ad blocker, but what do you think? Should we try it, or absolutely not?

Cheers
T

PS we'd have to work out a scheme for donors, too - whether they should see ads or not, for what period etc.

[TotO]

Last year, the funding reached something like 150%. (I don't remember exactly, but it was realy more that needed)
Why, those funds don't look to be reported to 2013? May be a reson why peoples don't give money this year? I missed something?
How about the investigations for a cheaper solutions?
Is, Ads will really cover those fees?

[robcfg]

I prefer to donate the keep the wiki costs covered, rather than have ads.


I'm not sure they will raise enough money, and I'm tired of ads everywhere.


In fact, we are now 50€ nearer to the 2013 goal. 

[MaV]

Let me answer with a picture:

[ralferoo]

Personally, I'd rather donate than see ads as I find they get in the way and slow page loading down.

I didn't realise it was a year and a half ago since the last campaign... it doesn't even feel like a year so I hadn't even thought about donating again yet, but checking back that was 14 months ago so I'm certainly happy to do so. Although less keen if we're about to get adverts anyway...

Maybe if the donations page had dates when the server bill was due that'd help with getting people to donating at the required time... "Year 2013 goal" seems like we're on target with about 30% donated after 3 1/2 months of the year. Obviously, if the server bill is imminent then that's not enough to cover your costs.

[Gryzor]

Right, some interesting points, thanks for the feedback (and keep it coming!)

@Tot0: the figures on the Donation page don't tell the entire truth. Total costs for one year is €624, which is about as much as we gathered, actually. I had set €500 as a goal because I figured we'd never hit 100% anyway, so I'd cover the rest myself. We (well, *I* ) bought a couple of paid mods for the forum too.
-Also, billing contract beging on October or November (I don't remember exactly), with monthly instalments of €52. So basically I'd say that yes, for this year donations have covered 3 out of 4 or 5 months already (and I thank you, personally and all, so much! I've added you to the Supporters group ).
-Yes, there are cheaper solutions. But upon close examination (SLAs and such), not *that* much cheaper, and I quite dread the migration, so I prefered to shoulder some of the cost myself. It will be done at some point in the not-so-far future, though.
-Ads will not cover the fees 100%, as I said, but I guess they'll cover *some* of it.

@Rob: again, thank you so much. I really appreciate it, as I did before, and I never take donations for granted (just got myself a nice expensive cheese with that 50). As I said, there's the possibility of removing ads for donors, so you wouldn't see anything.

@MaV: lol, I'll PM you my address

@ralferoo: see @Rob above, you wouldn't see them if you donated. I kinda find it a bit unjust for just a few people to donate for something that benefits hundreds of persons... And, maybe you're right about the dates, but who looks at the donations page anyway? Also see comment for @Tot0 above regarding 2013 coverage . Btw, I don't think pages would slow down loading, they're mere HTML snippets.

Let me repeat that this is just a thought for now and, depending on feedback we'd obviously enter a trial phase and see how it went and what problems it'd cause. I'd prefer to pay the whole thing myself than impose something nobody wants! The ads are an alternative to the donations scheme, not something for me to make money from.


Thanks again for the feedback, keep it coming!


Cheers
T

[IanS]

I wasn't a member for the last fundrasing, but would be happy to donate this time round.

[db6128]

Neither was I, and so would I! ...if I have any money by then :/

Like I imagine most people feel, I'd prefer, in an ideal world, to keep ads away from the site and run on donations. However, I acknowledge that it might not be as easy as that.

Maybe push the fundraiser forward and see if you can get enough to keep the site going for the rest of the year. Or buying cheese.

[Gryzor]

@IanS: it would be greatly appreciated, but also I don't want to impose. If you decide to, click on Donations in the top toolbar (third from the right) and you'll see the options. You have the option to do it publicly (which is good for transparency reasons) or privately (in which case your name and donation will not be automatically announced, but I can add an anonymous entry manually).


@db6128: no worries mate But yes, I see that my post had the effect of bringing some new donations, which may push the issue down the road, but I feel it's still there.

[beaker]

Dammit, couldn't you wait a few more days? I killed a lot of brain cells over the Paddy's Day bank holiday weekend and not quite coherent enough to read all this! Here, have a tenner! Whatever I put down

[TFM]

Advertisments? How much would that bring?

Can we put a FutureOS logo in the forum (just to bother pentagon) and I pay some money for it? How much would it be?

[Gryzor]

@beaker: so, the more I type the more donations I'll get? This should bring in some serious monies: http://pastebin.com/JVMZrXUr (added you to the supporter list, thanks!!! )


@TFM: It wouldn't bring much, maybe a few tens of euros per month, but it'd go a long way towards paying for the thing. As for the logo, this is possible, but what if Pentagon pays more and places a bigger banner or something? (also: thanks so much. I know I've said 'every little helps' but we're now 65% towards the annual cost!!! Woo-hoo! Added you to the Supporter group, too )

[mr_lou]

A thought....  How would you feel if cpcwiki displayed ads from donors?

[Gryzor]

A thought....  How would you feel if cpcwiki displayed ads from donors?

Technically, it's possible. But it'd still be an ad, and opinion so far seems to be against it, so I'm not sure. But this gives food for thought - we could have a Donors section to promote sites/products or something?

[TotO]

If you don't remember, for 30€/month : Dedibox Classic + - Online.net

You get a dedicated server with:

CPU: 1x Xeon quad core @2.66GHz
RAM: 8GB DDR3
HDD: 2x 1TB SATA2 7K2
Datacenter: Redondant power supply bay
Connection: 1Gb/s
Bandwidth: 100Mb/s
Trafic: Unlimited
...

It's the half of the current cost.

[Gryzor]

...and that's why we'll be switching sooner rather than later; the current box was cheap enough when we got it, but now it looks definitely non-competitive compared to other packages.


Though, the 100Mbps is not that high I think; if you see the bandwidth the wiki consumes, and the peaks it gives, you'll be amazed... But thanks for the reminder, I'm keeping it in my list

[TFM]

Oh well... maybe such a SymbOS logo would be even more beautiful, with that dragon and so...

Back to topic... No seriously, no need for my logo there, but if a couple of small ads (here and there) would bring 10-20 bucks a month, this would be cool! I wouldn't mind. And sure I would klick them! With the diabolic plan not to buy (.... oh it's so flashy, maybe I should buy *hehehe*)

[Gryzor]

Supposedly Google checks for such behavior where users are encouraged to click but do not follow through with any transaction. But, as I said, maybe at this size we could go unseen... (mwahahahaha!)

[TotO]

Though, the 100Mbps is not that high I think; if you see the bandwidth the wiki consumes, and the peaks it gives, you'll be amazed... But thanks for the reminder, I'm keeping it in my list

If pics are connections, you get 1Gbps here... Then, the 100Mbps are warranted.
This provider is Iliad, a major Internet provider in France (also know as FREE).
So, the backbones are probably enough to support the "cpc community". :p

May be an effort can be done to optimize the page content to reduce the bandwidth too, if you think that we consumes so much... Sincerely, I'm surprised...

[IanS]

If you decide to, click on Donations in the top toolbar (third from the right) and you'll see the options.

I only see "Logout"  after "Donations" (so it's second from right), which option am I missing?

[Gryzor]

I'm surprised, too, every time I look at the stats; we tend to focus on the community and our use, but the site gets a ton of traffic from lurkers or plain visitors, and that's the greatest part of it. I'm not saying that 100mbps is not enough, really, merely that it may be a limitation.


I've done as much optimisation as I could on the server; short of going plain-text (not many solutions in-between ), things are as good as they can get (ok, a couple of things still need doing, like some caching stuff, but this touches other things so it has to be studied beforehand).


Btw, the one you suggested does look cool indeed, I'm wondering if they speak any english at their support; I know french (hey, l' Academie Francaise is where I met my wife! ), but not as well as english, especially when it comes down to technical talk.

[Gryzor]

I only see "Logout"  after "Donations" (so it's second from right), which option am I missing?

Oops, sorry, you're right The other option is something I was experimenting with, not open to the public. So yeah, second fro right

[Edit] ooh, and thanks, man!!!

[TotO]

French peoples speaking english?
Probably like a spanish cow... XD

[Gryzor]

I'll take that as I no, then?

[TotO]

I'll take that as I no, then?

I can ask.
The support is by email or by phone. (not overtaxed calls)

You may try to translate this page:
Niveaux de service - Online.net